Mukono district leaders on Thursday went on the defensive after being blamed for moving at a snail speed in implementation of development projects including road construction funded by the World Bank and the French Development Agency (AFD).
The Minister of State for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs Kabuye Kyofatogabye was in Mukono Municipality to flag off the sh134bn road construction project and to launch the municipality’s 10-year physical development plan, at a function held at Ntaawo community ground in Mukono Central Division.
In his speech, Minister Kyofatogabye expressed deep concern over the slow pace at which work was moving, and literally said that Mukono was ‘crawling’ as far as implementation of the road project was concerned.
Touched by the minister’s sentiments, Mukono RDC Hajat Fatuma Ndisaba took a swipe at people who engage in politics all the time and clarified that politicking should be for only six months with the rest of the period to be dedicated to taking personal responsibilities as far as development is concerned. Ndisaba therefore invited the Mukono district Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Elizabeth Namanda to clear the air.
Clarifying, the CAO, Namanda attributed the delays to late environmental approval by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), adding however that engineers and technical staff are working around the clock to make up for time lost owing to delay by NEMA.
“Honourable Minister, our first job was supposed to be the Ntenjeru-Bule road in Mukono South constituency but owing to delays in environmental approval by NEMA, we could not begin on schedule but we have a meeting next Tuesday and we expect that by the end of this month, work on that road should have begun,” she said.
The CAO told the minister that among projects to be undertaken is the Kyetume slaughter house, saying the feasibility study and Bills of Quantities (BOQs) are being prepared so that next year, work kicks off in earnest.
The Under Secretary in the Office of the President, Monica Edemachu said that after four years at the preparatory phase, the road construction project is entering a critical phase that calls for technical commitment to make the work easy.
She thanked the religious leaders and the clergy for playing a positive role in availing the right of way, adding that the onus is on leadership to ensure that contractors are facilitated enough to get the work going.
In his flag off speech, Minister Kyofatogabye rubbished claims by people he continued to refer to as drunkards, alleging that the road project had been allocated sh800bn, and that a big chunk of it had been stolen.
He advised stakeholders in the project implementation to turn a deaf ear to such talk and concentrate on what they are supposed to do.
He said that opponents of government programmes are so addicted that as they oppose, they sometimes find themselves opposing their own statements. “Are we drunk to give sh800bn to such a small job? My advice is that you continue to resist such drunkenness by agents of negativity and proponents of impossibilities, and in the end you will see work progressing,” Kyofatogabye said.
Turning to locals, he advised them to avoid tempting contractors into intimate relations that may result in bearing children, and instead lure them to give them money in exchange for goods like foodstuffs. “These people will not import their food from China or Italy; sell them our local food to get some money from them,” he advised.
The work is being undertaken by two contractors namely, M/S Stirling Engineers and Construction Ltd, and China Communication Construction Company (CCCC).
